Old Friends
by Nodscouter
Summary: Garrus, Tali, Shepard and Joker are finally back together. As both Garrus and Tali struggles with adjusting to the new ship and new crew, the collectors are keeping the pressure on human colonies up. Watch as the old friends fight together once more.
1. Chapter 1: Reunited

Note: If you have not played Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 for the love of the most likely not existing god go play them and do not read this story until you have done exactly that. There are a ridiculous amount of spoilers here as I wanted to stay true to the ME universe.

Good, now that we got that out of the way I would like to introduce you to my ME fan-fic: Old friends.  
It will mostly focus on Garrus and Tali, them being my absolute favourite characters. It will most likely NOT be a romance story between them however (Which I've noticed seems to be VERY popular here)  
I have no disrespect for the authors who do include Garrus-Tali romances, but so far the most of those I've read makes Garrus into the-most-insecure-sonofabitch in space and Tali either EXTREMELY dependent on everyone else or just plain stupid (One of the stories I read had her walk around the ship without an exosuit). As you might have noticed from my little rant there I'm extremely passionate about not breaking the characters personalities like too many ME fan-fics do these days. Anyway, it is far more likely the old Shepard-Tali romance will come into play.  
Anyway, it will also include to large part Joker. Lastly, Shepard won't really have a large part in this except every now and then. It will more focus on Garrus, Tali and Joker interacting with the other crew-members. Expect to see some tensions and friendships forming.

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Reunited**_

''Garrus!'' Tali could barely hide her excitement. First Shepard, then Joker and now Garrus too. Her old friends were back. Despite that she had been on the Flotilla for two years now, she had never stopped thinking about her old friends. The Flotilla had felt oddly... unlike her home for those two years. When she left the other survivors of the Normandy to return to the Flotilla two years ago,  
she had silently cried. And now they were back! She could hardly believe it, her wishes had come true. Although she had hoped it wouldn't be on a Cerberus vessel where she reunited with her friends.

Garrus spun around at the familiar Quarian voice. ''Tali!'' he shouted as his mouth formed into a Turian ''smile''. When he had heard they were picking up Tali again he had remembered the old Normandy. Wrex, Liara, Ashley, Kaidan, Adams, Pressly, Joker, Tali, Chakwas and Shepard. Only four of them were here. He had his doubts about the new crew, especially that Miranda. But Shepard trusted them, and therefore, so did he.

Garrus and Tali shared a short embrace before Garrus broke the silence

''I can't believe you're back Tali!'' She smiled, before realising that he couldn't see it with her mask on.

''I can't believe you're here too Garrus''.

Garrus looked over Tali's shoulder at Shepard and Joker who both looked at the two, smiling.

''You know Commander'' Joker said. Shepard looked at him.

''I always knew there were something between those two''. Shepard looked at Joker with his face in mock anger

''Oh shut up, or I'll have you handle one half of Gardner's duties'' Joker looked up at him with a hopeful smile

''The cooking part right?'' ''Nope''. Joker quickly spun his chair around. ''All right, all right, I get it.''.

Suddenly, Garrus voice reached the Commander's ears.

''Hey Commander, mind if I show Tali 'round the new ship?''. Shepard spun around

''Knock yourself out'' Garrus face suddenly twitched slightly. Then it struck him

''Damn, sorry, human expression. Go ahead''. Garrus was noticeable relieved at that and Garrus walked off with Tali to show her the new ship.

''I want you to meet someone'' he said. He guided her into the elevator and pressed the buttons to go to deck 3. Suddenly, something struck Tali as she looked at Garrus again. She gasped as she saw the huge scar on Garrus face's right side.

''Oh right, sorry. I guess I should explain where I went after... Shepard died'' Tali slowly nodded.

''I...'' he started, realising there was only a single person that he had told the story to before, Shepard, and even to Shepard it had been hard.  
He looked at Tali and realised that this was possibly the only other person he was willing to share the story with

''I went back to C-Sec for a while. Realised that me going with Shepard wasn't appreciated there. I went to Omega and got a team to follow me. Quite like how Shepard did actually'' Both of them smiled

''I went after the gangs, trying to clean up the streets you know? And then...'' Garrus looked away. Just thinking about it was hard, explaining it too someone else was... hell.

''Garrus... I didn't want to-'' Tali started before Garrus cut her off

''No it's okay. Anyway, one day my squad was... lost. I-I'll get into details some other day''. Tali started feeling a bit uncomfortable, remembering Freedom's Progress, Haestrom, and Kal... Her thoughts were interrupted as Garrus brought up the strength to talk about it again

''The mercs had me cornered. I realised that this was probably the last weeks I would spend in this world. So I decided I would take as many of the mercs down with me as I could.  
Then one day while looking down the scope, I see him. Long story short, we soon had pretty much killed all the mercs when suddenly this gunship shows up and decides that I would look a bit better with some scars'' Garrus gestured towards his face. Tali couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

''And well, couple of hours later I woke up in the Normandy's med-bay with these fancy new scars''. As Tali looked at Garrus she could feel the loss he was dealing with. But it wasn't just loss, it was... anger. She couldn't quite understand what it was, but somehow he felt that despite Garrus blaming himself, it wasn't his fault. Her thoughts were, again, interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors opening.

''Well, they certainly haven't sped up the elevators by much'' she noted, happy to have a chance to change the subject.

''Just like old times'' Garrus answered. He stepped out of the elevator with the Quarian's familiar footsteps following close behind. He waved in front of the med-bay door to open it, touching the green light making the door slide open.

''Doctor'' Garrus said. Dr. Chakwas slowly spun her chair around

''Garrus, how is your face holdi-''. She didn't get any further than that before looking at the Quarian standing beside Garrus

''Tali!' she exclaimed. Tali shared a similar feeling as she now had four of her old friends here. A short hug later

''You're with Cerberus now Doctor?'' she asked worriedly. ''As much as Shepard, Joker, Garrus and even you I'd say'' The Doctor sighed

''I'm afraid I didn't have any other real choice Tali. As much as I dislike Cerberus, they're one of the few who see the reapers.'' Even with her helmet on, they could see Tali was relieved.

''And.. I'm sorry for what happened on the Migrant Fleet Tali.'' Here eyes tightened as she took a step back

''You... you weren't on that mission, right?''

''No, I wasn't. But with this Cerberus insignia on my chest I... I feel guilty for what happened to the Fleet''. Tali still remembered that day all too well, and simply let out a quiet ''Don't'' to Dr. Chakwas and walked out of the room with Garrus soon following after. Afraid that he would make it worse, Garrus decided to stay quiet.

The elevator doors slid open once more as Garrus and Tali walked out onto the engineering deck. Garrus pointed to their left

''Over there'' he said. ''We have a bloodthirsty Krogan''. Changing his direction to the right

''Over there we have an old merc veteran that apparently spends his time throwing knifes into the wall and doing... things to his rifle''

''And down here'' he stomped his feet into the floor a few times before a loud ''Fuck off!'' was heard ''we have a psychotic mass-murdering biotic convict''. The two went through the doors leading to the engineering bay. Two humans stood at the consoles tapping at them. Tali smiled as she saw that despite the Normandy being completely rebuilt the engines were still one of the best in the galaxy.

''Didja hear something Gabby?''  
The male engineer said to his female partner. Taking her hands off the consoles for a few seconds and putting them in a position around her head, indicating she was thinking, she soon answered.

''You know, I think I did actually'' and turned around to see the Turian and Quarian standing there.

''Oh, you're Tali ain't ya?'' the male engineer said. He put his hand forward, which Tali had learned was a human gesture during her time aboard the old Normandy. She slowly shook his hand.

''We've heard alot about ye, me and Gabby. From what I understand, it will be great to work under you''

''Wait, under me?'' Tali asked shocked.

''Of course, Shepard didn't tell you? You're the new Chief Engineer on the Normandy'' Gabby said. Tali slowly reeled from the shock to look around her.

''Chief Engineer'' she thought. ''Best day ever''. A thought struck her and turned around to Garrus

''You knew didn't you?''. Garrus smiled.

''Oh, I might have heard a thing or two'' Tali looked around again, and she couldn't help but smile with him.

''I'll let you have fun down here Tali'' Garrus said as he walked out the door. Suddenly he stopped and turned around

''Oh and Tali? It's great to see you back''. She turned her head towards him ''Same to you Garrus''. The doors closed as the Turian walked out and Tali started engrossing herself in the new ships drive core.

''Home'' she whispered to herself, which earned her a small glance from the other two engineers.

* * *

And there we go. First chapter done. Now, I don't want to sound like a desperate youtube commentator, but reviews would be most welcome as this is my first ME fan-fic. I'm afraid I might have gone into happy sunshine-land a bit too much here, but I'll try to fix that up as I go on.


	2. Chapter 2: Settling In

I just want to say I'm sorry that it took so long for the second chapter to come up. I thought I was going to get it up sooner but well, let's just I got wrapped up in some calibrations. Also, I want to thank the people who subscribed, favourited and reviewed (I'm looking at you Drizzit). Now, please enjoy the second chapter.

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Settling in**_

Tali's hands flew quickly across the console. She was still getting used to it all, but Cerberus had rebuilt the Normandy surprisingly similar to the old one. Yet so strange. The new drive core was quite welcome for her though. The old drive core had been state of the art at the time, and now she worked on another one that were far more advanced. She wasn't all that sure about the new crew though. The fact that three extremely dangerous squad members shared her deck didn't help her mood, and the two Cerberus operatives wasn't doing that either. But Garrus, Joker, Chakwas and Shepard were all here. The two Cerberus engineers to her right were great too. They were both experts at their tasks and they didn't have any difficulty working under her.

_''Under her'' _she thought,

still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that she were now Chief Engineer. She made a mental note to thank Shepard for that next time she saw him.

''Well, that would be all the calibrations for today'' Kenneth noted. ''Say Gabby, how about going to grab something to eat eh?''

''Well, since the Commander picked up some new provisions I guess we don't have to worry about food poisoning anymore'' The female engineer responded.

''I don't know about that, it IS still Gardner making the food''. Tali looked from the consoles for a moment. She hadn't gotten anything to eat ever since she got onto the Normandy and she had been too wrapped up in checking out the new Normandy to realise she was indeed hungry.

''Wait up guys'' she shouted to the engineers just before they closed the elevators doors.

A few seconds later she stepped out on the new Mess Hall. Looking around, she noticed the crew members divided up amongst the tables. As she tried to remember the names of the new crew members, a certain voice belonging to a certain Turian Vigilante called

''Hey Tali, over here.'' Garrus waved and gestured for her to take a seat on the other side of the small table. She walked over and took a seat at the table.

''I should probably note that this is the only table that Gardners delivers our food to.'' Garrus tapped his head twice ''Might want to remember that unless you're itching to get poisoned''. Gardner came over with their food, all while muttering ''Great, now I have to cook twice the amount of food that I can't taste or anything. Greaaat.'' Tali watched as he walked back to the rest of his frying pans and cooking pots.

''Is he always like that?'' she asked.

''Well, at least each time we get a new crew member. He also takes his cooking very seriously and gets kinda pissed when he can't even try it himself''.

Tali slowly nodded before diving into the food. She had only just realised after looking at the food how hungry she was.

''I should've probably told you that Gardner's also in charge of cleaning'' Tali looked up for a second, decided she didn't care and started eating again. Watching as Tali devoured plate after plate of the food, he quickly realised that he would need to act fast to even get a meal today. After grabbing some food, he said

''I'm going to go ahead and guess that you haven't had anything to eat for a while.'' Without even taking her eyes off her meal she asnwered ''Good guess''. Garrus looked at his own meal and soon realised that this wouldn't last him half the day. He reached for the last of the food but Tali was quicker and snatched it away.

''Awesome'' he mumbled. He scavenged his pockets to see if there was any piece of food hidden there. His hands soon brought up a half-eaten nutrition bar, like the ones he'd eaten on Omega.

''So we're back to that are we?'' he thought as he shoved it into his mouth. No taste, but it did carry that uncomfortable feel as it went down his throat.

As Tali finally finished her meal, Garrus took the opportunity and asked

''So how are you settling in?''. Tali, now full, answered

''Good. It's hard to adjust to being the Chief Engineer, but I think I'll manage''. A thought struck Tali as she looked up at Garrus

''What exactly do you do around here these days? I've noticed we don't have the Mako anymore'' ''And thank god for that!'' ''Oh I don't know, it was fun watching you struggle just to keep yourself in the seat'' Despite not being able to see her face, Garrus was sure she had a wide grin on.

''I do the main calibrations for our new guns'' he said as he pointed down towards the main batteries.

''All day?''Tali asked.

''Pretty much, except for when Shepard takes me on missions'' he answered, with a hint of pride in his voice.

''He still takes you on the missions after your face was almost blown off?''

''Well, unless someone hits me too hard I think my face will hold together for a little more.'' Tali smiled before standing up and walkings towards the elevator.

''Oh by the way Tali!'' Garrus shouted after her. She stopped and turned around.

''We're going down on a mission in about 5 or 6 hours.''.

Tali sighed ''Already?''.

''It would seem so yes.''  
Tali turned back and walked towards the elevator

''I'll go get Chikitikka then''. Garrus sat down and tried to remember who the hell this Chikitikka was.

''Vakarian, Zorah, to the briefing room'' Miranda's voice echoed over the comms. Garrus grabbed his old Mantis rifle and proceeded out of the small room where he conducted his daily calibrations.  
He adjusted the scope of his sniper and made sure that it was ready to fire. He nodded as he saw that it was and flipped the security switch. He put it on his back, picked up his assault rifle and put that on his back too. Walking out of the main battery room, he noticed that there were very few crewmembers on the deck. He looked at the clock and realised that it was 5:23.

''Nothing better than some good old fighting to start the day.'' he thought to himself. He walked over to the elevator and called up the elevator. As it opened, Tali stood there with a combat drone next to her.

''Garrus, this is Chikitikka vas Paus''. An ''_Oooh_'' expression appeared on his face. He stepped into the elevator and noticed the Shotgun and Pistol strapped to Tali's suit. He saw that both were new and clean. She must have paid a visit to the armory earlier.

Garrus and Tali stepped out of the elevator on the second deck. Kelly was standing at the rest her terminal and the rest of the crew were going on with their daily work. Garrus saw that Mordin wasn't in his lab, instead he was walking past them. Both Garrus and Tali noticed that Joker was looking after Mordin, and he didn't look especially amused, which in turn amused both Tali and Garrus.  
They walked through the door to the briefing room. Miranda stood at the other end of the table. Shepard stood to her right.

''_Vakarian, Zorah_'_' _Miranda coldly said as she let her eyes go over both of them. She wasn't exactly on the best of terms with any of them, with the history between the Quarians and Cerberus and the fact that she didn't even slightly trust Garrus.

_''Operative Lawson'' _Garrus answered as coldly. Tali simply nodded. Shepard stayed quiet.

''We're picking up an experienced Drell Assasin on Illium. Thane Krios. Trained since he was 6 years old, first kill at 12. One of the best assasins in the galaxy. Stealth, hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship are all his areas of expertise. He's been hired to kill Nassana Dantius. Our intelligence suggests Dantius is here'' She pointed towards a large tower on the map of Illium. ''Our best hope is to catch him while he is on his towards Dantius''. Garrus interrupted

''Slow down, we're supposed to catch an assasin, that is apparently an expert at stealth, as he is on his way towards his target?''.

Miranda stared at him. ''Do you have a better plan Vakarian?'' she was struggling to be formal. She hated it when people questioned her advice.

''I do actually, Lawson. If we take the elevators to the top of this tower, we can go over the bridge and get to Dantius' office where we could easily wait for the assasin''. Miranda grunted.

''Fine, that would work too. Unless the assasin gets killed on his way there'' she commented sarcastically while staring Garrus down. The Turian answered with a similar stare.

Shepard finally interrupted ''We'll take Garrus plan Miranda.''

''Whatever you say Shepard'' she muttered as she walked out of the room. As the doors closed, Garrus let out a loud sigh, accompanied with a ''Finally''. Both Tali and Shepard chuckled a bit before walking towards the elevator. Tali looked out for a second through the windows. She could see Illium, with it's millions and millions of lights. She soon followed Shepard and Garrus into the elevator and soon they descended towards the cargo bay and the Kodiak.

* * *

Second chapter done then. I hope you'll forgive me for making this a bit shorter than the other chapter. The next chapter will include some action and also meeting a certain Drell Assasin.


	3. Chapter 3: The Assasin's entry

Please accept my ''sincere'' apologies for not getting to this earlier.

**_

* * *

_**

**_Chapter 3 The Assasin's entry_**

''Shepard, I heard Liara is working here these days. Shouldn't we visit her'' Shepard stopped and looked at Tali. As much as he wanted to pull a ''We don't have time for that'' he felt that he really shouldn't. He sighed and answered.

''She's working for the Shadow Broker now.''. ''That's it'' Tali asked. ''Yes, yes it is''. Garrus noticed the sour mood Shepard was in.

''Look Shepard, don't you think maybe we should give her a chance to explain herself At the very least, let her know you're alive She was hit as hard as the rest of us when you died.''.

Suddenly, Shepard snapped.

''Do you think she will be happy to see me Like Kaidan maybe Huh Is that what you think'' Shepard demanded while holding up an accusing finger in Garrus face. He slowly drew back the finger.

''I'm sorry, I've just been a bit on edge since horizon.''. Both Tali and Garrus nodded, despite only one of them having been there.

''I know Shepard, but we were all devastated when you died. Even Wrex himself. I know for a fact that me, Tali and Wrex were ectastic to see you again. Kaidan might have been an exception but that shouldn't stop you from visiting Liara.''.

Shepard sighed again, this time a bit louder. ''You're right Garrus, as always. But I just can't bring myself to it right now.''. Garrus nodded.

''Now come on, or we'll be late for that assasination.''.

The car landed and the team stepped out. ''Have fun'' the Asari still in the car told them before flying off. They observed the surroundings. Two large towers, one still under construction, stood in front of them. A large bridge extended between them. Hundreds of lights glowed through the windows. They looked in front of them to reveal a room filled with several salarian workers.

''How are we going to get past those worke-''. Garrus' sentence was cut short as a volley of shots came from the left. One of the Salarians made the mistake of looking instead of running and a slug pierced his head. The other Salarian tried to run, but he was shot through his knees and he felt to ground while choking on his blood before finally another shot pierced his heart. ''Mechs!'' Garrus cried as he saw them come out. The team ran towards cover and ducked. Tali threw out Chikitikka which gave the three enough of a distraction to pull out of cover and land a flurry of shots at the mechs. Several of them exploded, causing the others to fly through the air and slam hard into the ground.

''Mmmm. I hoped this would just be another pick-up-a-deadly-assasin-and-kill-tons-of- mercs-mission, but noo, now we have mechs too.'' Garrus snidely commented. Shepard nodded and the team walked through the opening with shattered glass all around their feet. ''H-help me'' A low Salarian tone echoed across the room. They soon spotted the voice's owner. He was coughing blood, without assistance he would soon be dead. Garrus put his Viper back on his back before looking at the Salarian. His eyes flared as he saw him, lying there covered in his own blood. He recognized the scene all too well.

_''Garrus!''. The low voice called out. Eight bodies laid there, covered in their own blood. The two people still alive were dying._

_''Inoste! Stay still, I'll get you some medi-gel and you'll be up in no time''. Garrus wasn't sure who he was trying to convince. The Salarian that laid there dying, or himself. If it was the first, then it apparently had no effect._

_''Don't fool yourself Garrus, you know damn well how much time I have left'' his serious voice echoed in the damp room they were in. Garrus nodded sadly, as he looked over the room._

_''Where's... where's Lantar'' he asked. Inoste stabilized himself on his elbow and looked across the room._

_''I don't know...''. Despite how much he wished to deny it, the thought struck him._

_''He did it, Sidonis... he did this'' he thought as he clenched his fist. Garrus grabbed his Mantis even harder._

_''I'll find him Inoste. I'll find him.'' he whispered. ''Garrus...'' he started, before letting out a cough and falling lifeless to the cold floor._

''Here, this should get you up again'' Garrus snapped out of his memories to see Shepard applying medi-gel to the dying Salarian. He slowly rose, with a pained expression on his face. As Shepard went on with his interoggation, Garrus looked out over the room. The floor was covered with bullet holes, bodies and blood. Too much like Omega. He shook his head. He couldn't fall into memories like some Drell. Garrus chuckled a bit when he realised they were right now hunting for some Drell assasin. Shepard finished asking the Salarian questions and he soon limped away, deciding that it was a good idea to get out of the building before mechs showed up. ''Come on'' Shepard gestured for them to follow up.

''I told you!'' Garrus sarcastic voice rang over the room. Shepard rolled his eyes before popping his rifle's heat sink and spinning out of cover to take down the mercs that had just gotten out of the elevator. One of the mercs received several armor piercing shots and was fatally wounded before Chikitikka delivered a final shock to his brain. Falling forwards, one of the other mercs had to step out of his way, which gave Tali enough time to aim her Eviscerator and take down the merc. The team heard as one of the mercs yells ''Shit no!'' and ran. A sniper shot penetrated his left leg and soon after his brain far before he had left the room. With only one merc left, the whole team span out of cover at once and a synchronized rain of bullets from a shotgun, a sniper and an assault rifle killed the merc very quickly. As Garrus quickly pushed the body outside the elevator, he repeated

''I told you''. Shepard looked at him ''Well, excuuuse me! How am I supposed to know every elevator is filled with a ton of mercs''. Garrus shrugged

''Not my problem really''. He replied nonchalantly.

''Not that it matters now though.'' Tali interrupted, gesturing towards the dead mercs. The other two nodded as the elevators doors closed. The elevator soon began it's slow ascent towards the roof.

''I swear, they've slowed down the elevators even more the last two years'' Shepard sighed. Garrus nodded ''Yea, I heard some complaints that the elevators were too fast.'' Shepard looked at him, not sure if he was serious. The elevator doors opened and they saw a single eclipse merc standing there with his hand on his ear. He was talking to someone on some comm channel.  
His conversation quickly ended when a bullet penetrated the back of his head.

''Meh. It's not as fun when they just stand there like a perfect target'' Garrus sadly remarked before loading in a new thermal clip in his rifle.

''Eh, don't worry Garrus. We'll find you something nice and moving to shoot at''. Shepard said.

The doors slid open to reveal Nassana Dantius standing with several armed mercs at her side.

''So now the mighty human spectre is here to kill me huh'' she said emotionlessly. The mercs looked at eachother, and slowly nodded

''Not here to kill you'' Shepard simply stated.

''You break into my office, killing half of my force to get to me and you don't want to kill me I find that hard to believe''. All of the merc rifles in the room were pointed towards them. Suddenly, a man dropped from the vents. In a split second, he had snapped one neck and shot two others. Shepard, Tali and Garrus quickly drew their guns and finished off the rest of the mercs in the room as the Drell pressed his pistol against the Asari's stomach and pulled the trigger. He slowly let her rest on the table and then clasped his hands together.

''Thane Krios'' Shepard asked. No response was heard in the room. The assasin simply stood with his mind deep into prayer.

''Well, looks we picked up a quiet little Drell murderer''. The Drell spun his head up. ''I am not the murderer here.'' he simply stated.

''In that case, my eyes must betray me. It sure as hell look like you just shot down an Asari'' Garrus started the assasin down. ''But I guess I was just hallucinating.'' He sarcastically commented.  
The drell let his arms slip behind his back as he left his position behind the desk.

''My employer killed them. I was merely the gun that my employer pulled the trigger on'' he said as he walked towards them. Before Garrus could retort, the Drell turned his head towards Shepard and said. ''Yes. I am Thane Krios. I apologize for getting into an argument with your companion here'' Thane said as he gestured towards Garrus, who did not look all too amused.

''We need you for a suicide mission. It's extremely important'' Shepard explained. Thane turned around and walked towards the window and looked at the sun.

''That sounds reasonable.'' he turned around again. ''I will join you.'' Shepard's face twitched.

''You have no problem joining a suicide mission without an explanation'' Tali asked before Shepard could. Thane shook his head sadly.

''While I would like an explanation, such luxuries are not for the dying'' Thane said without his face changing expression even slightly.

''Dying'' Shepard asked, confused. Had the Illusive Bastard sent him here to collect an assasin that would die on them in the middle of their mission

''Kepral's Syndrome it is called. No known cure.'' he looked down. ''I have no desire for one. But we cannot waste time here talking. More mercs are bound to arrive here, and I do not wish to kill anymore than are needed.'' Shepard nodded and walked for the door, gesturing for the others to follow him. Before he could reach the door however, Garrus held out an arm and stopped him.

''Shepard, is it really a good idea to bring an assasin on the ship If someone sends him enough creds he'll probably waste no time in stabbing your back.'' Garrus looked over at the dead mercs littering the floor. ''Or snap your neck maybe.''

''Drell hearing is better than you think.'' Thane commented from across the room. ''I have no desire for money. I will follow you gratis.''. Shepard looked over at Garrus, who weren't all that relieved.

''Look Garrus, we need all the help we can get. You accepted the Cerberus operatives, so why not him''. Garrus twitched.

''I never accepted those Cerberus. I tolerate them'' Garrus pointed at Shepard's face ''for now.'' He sighed. ''I guess you know best Shepard. Just... be careful.'' he murmured the last words.  
Shepard nodded and together all four walked out the door to the Kodiak.


End file.
